Getting to know Glorious & Free Authors Kim Bozak & Rita Field-Marsham

Glorious & Free (House of Anansi Press) by Rita Field-Marsham and Kim Bozak examines the impact and inspiration of 33 exceptional Canadians, using their achievements and innovation as a lens to view our country. With illustrations by award-winning children's book artist Frank Viva and a foreword by Booker Prize winner Yann Martel, the book is a snapshot of the best our country has to offer.

Several other well known creative professionals loaned their talents for this collaborative book project, including Joanne Ratajczak (Photographer), Siavash Khasha (Designer), Rosemary Shipton (Executive Editor), Chris Frey (Editor and Writer), Jason McBride (Writer), Linda Besner (Writer), Megan Cuff (Project Manager), and Sarah Angel (Consulting Editor).

The list of featured Canadians spans arts and culture, humanitarian work, athletics, and much more and includes Cameron Bailey, Ed Burtynsky, Andre De Grasse, Coco Rocha, Madeleine Thien and Rawi Hage, and Katherena Vermette, to name just a few. 

Since Kim and Rita helped us to get to know so many inspiring Canadians in Glorious & Free, we decided to turn the focus to the authors themselves and get to know both women with the help of our version of the famous Proust Questionnaire. Read on to hear from Kim and Rita about their favourite (and shared) extravagance, their musical dreams, and their inspiring mottos. 

What is your dream of happiness?

Kim Bozak:

Being in a place of collaboration and creativity and being with my family.

Rita Field-Marsham:

Quality time with family and friends.

What is your idea of misery?

KB:

Being in a place of constant fear.

RFM:

Loneliness.

Where would you like to live?

KB:

I would love to live in France.

RFM:

Walking distance from my children, my sisters and their children, in a warm tropical place with windows open to nature and ceiling fans.

What qualities do you admire most in a man?

KB:

Intellect, great humour, integrity, and generosity.

RFM:

In charge, loyal, affectionate, sociable, decorum. 

What qualities do you admire most in a woman?

KB:

Self awareness, openness, strength, compassion.

RFM:

Nurturing, independent, confident, decorum, ambitious. 

What is your chief characteristic?

KB:

I am very nice.

RFM:

Imaginative. 

What is your principal fault?

KB:

I am very nice.

RFM:

Obsessive. 

What is your greatest extravagance?

KB:

Fashion.

RFM:

Clothes. 

What faults in others are you most tolerant of?

KB:

My disappointment.

RFM:

Mistakes.

What do you value most about your friends?

KB:

Honesty, candidness, the ability to "talk to" not "talk at", authenticity, positivity.

RFM:

Kindness.

What characteristic do you dislike most in others?

KB:

Grandiosity, the need to "prove".

RFM:

Meanness.

What characteristic do you dislike most in yourself?

KB:

My self-doubt.

RFM:

Lack of discipline.

What is your favourite virtue?

KB:

Respectability.

RFM:

Principles. 

What is your favourite occupation?

KB:

Anything collaborative or creative.

RFM:

Creating.

What would you like to be?

KB:

I am doing it.

RFM:

Being who I’m now, but better at everything that I am.

What is your favourite colour?

KB:

Blue.

RFM:

Gold.

What is your favourite flower?

KB:

Sweet Peas and lilacs.

RFM:

Jasmine.

What is your favourite bird?

KB:

Red cardinal.

RFM:

Lovebird.

What historical figure do you admire the most?

KB:

Thomas Jefferson.

RFM:

Malcolm X/Lee Kuan Yew.

What character in history do you most dislike?

KB:

Hitler.

RFM:

Hitler/perpetrators of genocides.

Who are your favourite prose authors?

KB:

Margaret Atwood.

RFM:

Camilla Gibb, Caitlin Moran,  Khaled Hosseini, Alexandra Fuller, Leo Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, Rawi Hage, Madeleine Thien, Rian Malan.

Who are your favourite poets?

KB:

Maya Angelou, Walt Whitman, and William Shakespeare.

RFM:

Mustafa Ahmed.

Who are your favourite heroes in fiction?

KB:

Cal Stephanides from Middlesex, Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye.

RFM:

Carrie Mathison (Homeland), Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones). 

Who are your heroes in real life?

KB:

My husband, my sister, and many of my close friends.

RFM:

Compassionate Samurais.

Who is your favourite painter?

KB:

Elizabeth Peyton.

RFM:

Sarah Merry.

Who is your favourite musician?

KB:

The Beatles.

RFM:

The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Lionel Richie, Phil Collins, Carly Simon, Françoisie Hardie, Whitney Houston, Sade.

What is your favourite food?

KB:

Italian, Mediterranean, and French.

RFM:

Full course breakfast.

What is your favourite drink?

KB:

White Burgundys.

RFM:

Kenyan tea and Dawa.

What are your favourite names?

KB:

Linus, Holden, and Wylie.

RFM:

Natasha, Eliana, Davina, Tessa, Chloé, Aria. 

What is it you most dislike?

KB:

Injustice.

RFM:

Unnecessary suffering. 

What natural talent would you most like to possess?

KB:

The ability to sing.

RFM:

Play an instrument beautifully.

How do you want to die?

KB:

In my sleep at a very old age.

RFM:

Peacefully, surrounded by family.

What is your current state of mind?

KB:

Excited for the many possiblities.

RFM:

Chaos.

What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?

KB:

Self-awareness.

RFM:

Raising happy, loving children that are good people and good citizens.

What is your motto?

KB:

Given’er!

RFM:

There’s always a good solution.

_______________________________

Rita Field-Marsham is a Dutch-Kenyan new Canadian and former prosecutor and public defender in Kenya. After moving to Toronto in 2004, she founded Kenya’s first turnkey school library model and has now built twenty-seven libraries. She is currently in the process of drafting new legislation with the Kenya Law Reform Commission to ensure that all school-aged children have access to libraries and the knowledge they need to shape their future.

Originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, Kim Bozak is active in numerous art and social causes. A former co-chair of the Canadian Art Foundation, she currently serves on the board of the National Arts Centre and is also a member of the Sotheby’s Advisory Board. Kim was also part of the group that helped bring Volt Hockey—a version of the sport that enables kids with physical disabilities to play by using a specially designed chair—to Canada.